Candidate for governor Mike Kennealy says state policy "driving the affordability agenda" in Massachusetts
Mike Kennealy, the first prominent Republican challenger to Maura Healey in the 2026 Massachusetts governor's race, told WBZ-TV he's focused on the future of the state and not on President Donald Trump's policies.
Trump and Massachusetts
But with those policies - including aggressive arrests of immigrants and pro-Palestinian students, mass firings of federal officials and deep cuts in federal spending relied on by key sectors of the Massachusetts economy - dominating the local headlines, aren't the federal and state stories inextricably linked?
"We focus on affordability, affordability in three dimensions, housing, energy and taxes," says Kennealy, the former Secretary of Housing and Economic Development under Gov. Charlie Baker who says he blanked the presidential race all three times Trump has been on the ballot.
"And I think for those issues, it's state policy that's driving the affordability agenda. We simply don't have enough housing, and we took important steps in the Baker administration to try to drive the production of more housing. And I don't think the [Healey] administration has the right strategy on that. Energy costs are simply way too high, a lot due to state policy, and taxes -- you know, this administration, Beacon Hill keeps coming up with new proposals for new taxes, so no I don't think I agree with that."
MBTA Communities Act
Kennealy was critical of the way the Healey administration has enforced the MBTA Communities Act, a Baker-era law that requires cities and towns served by the T to allow more multi-family housing or risk losing state grants.
"I'm amazed the way the dialog has evolved on this one," he says. "It has been way too contentious, and the administration has doubled down on threats and mandates and lawsuits. What they should be doing is working with their cities and towns to help them deliver the housing they want."
Kennealy says the Housing Choice reform, which lowered the threshold for a local governing body to approve zoning changes from a two-thirds vote to a simple majority, was enough of a counter to the NIMBYISM that often stalls housing development.
The candidate also discussed the migrant crisis and the exodus of younger workers from Massachusetts in the interview, which you can watch in the video above.
